Friday, December 08, 2006

Joel Levin at Final Draft asked me what I want in Final Draft 8, which they're now designing. I want to be able to print script notes on the facing pages, like I can in Movie Magic Screenwriter. What do you want Final Draft 8 to be able to do? (Aside from "not crash." They know that. And 7.1.3 is pretty stable.)

8:50 AM

19 Comments:

It should cost $0-$49.99.

It is a word processing program.

By  Anonymous, at 10:25 AM  

FD and MM are created and marketed as state of the art tools for industry pros. So they are going to cost more. A simple fact of grownup life in a free market economy.

There are cheaper programs, and numerous freeware options. They don't perform as well as FD or MM. Surprise. You want the top of the line, you pay for it. Or use something cheaper.

By  odocoileus, at 11:14 AM  

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By  AmitBe, at 11:43 AM  

ummm... support for other languages?

By  AmitBe, at 11:44 AM  

I'm an MMS guy, simply because that's what I used first and I'm comfortable with it.

Someday I'm going to have to check out a FD demo and compare/contrast.

By  EcamirG, at 2:21 PM  

One feature I found interesting and what I thought would be useful on another program(I dont use just looked at it) was the ability to link documents and webpages for research within the file for that screenplay.

Just made them quicker and easier to acess. I already create a new folder for each screenplay and keep everything organised in subfolders for research etc, but having it within the FD file would be an enhancement I think.

I don't know about others but the internet is my first choice for research due to it being open at 11pm at night when I am writing.

cheers
Dave

By  Grubber, at 2:35 PM  

Because I also produce these things, I want to be able to insert notes that can be later compiled into a list for when I read the next draft. Page numbers included.

This would be a useful function for directors too as they can outline shots and generate shot lists corresponding to scenes. Something I can hand to my AD or storyboard artist and have it make complete sense.

By  Anonymous, at 2:44 PM  

I don't know if this really applies, but I'm currently having a huge problem with version 7. When I save a file as a PDF, it ends up being 15-20 times larger than the FDR version.

A script can come in at over two MBs...it's crazy.

But I don't know if that's a flaw in Final Draft, or if I've got a setting wrong somewhere.

By  Callaghan, at 3:31 PM  

Yes, the ability to actively link would be handy, but don't restrict that to URLs.

FD could use the off-page notes facility to store links and multimedia. If you have a photo you're using as inspiration for a character, or a location, you'd be able to drag it into a FD script and make it a script note.

That would save you the trouble of hunting down the file in your - not mine, of course, but your - rat nest of a hard drive.

And get rid of the script auto-reading feature until the voices stop sounding like Ritalin-riddled robots.

By  Webs, at 6:13 PM  

I want to be able to write in Speed View, not be limited to Page View mode.

I want to toggle in and out of a full-screen Scene Cards/Index with a single mouse-click, instead of being stuck with fiddly split-screen windows.

These are the mains reasons I switched back to FD 6, even after they’d got most of the bugs out of 7.

Oh yeah, and I’d like to be able to save it as a proper Word document rather than just an RTF.

By  Andy Diggle, at 7:27 PM  

Oh yeah, and can we please IMPORT and EXPORT to MMS?

By  Alex Epstein, at 7:52 PM  

Incidentally, Andy -- I always write in Speed View. Is this something you can't do on Windows? It works fine for me on Mac.

By  Alex Epstein, at 8:10 PM  

Webs, I'll let you know, my hard drive is as clear and well-organised as George Bush's mind.
cheers
Dave

By  Grubber, at 11:13 PM  

once in production...there should be a way to print a top page that lists all the new changes so you dont have to flip through the entire script looking for them...
e.g.

page 2....change in action...
page 10...change in dialogue...
page 24...change in character name...

Terry

By  Anonymous, at 2:29 AM  

Hey, you were right about Speed View - I just downloaded the latest update and they've added it. I'd given up at version 7.0.0.33 which only had Page View... and more bugs than STARSHIP TROOPERS.

By  Andy Diggle, at 4:49 PM  

1. Being able to export as RTF.
I know, they claim they have it now. But not if you do basic things... like turn on scene numbers.

2. 'Backup' having date AND time in the default filename.
Trivial, but when I'm on a roll I like to backup more regularly than once a day ..

3. Title page being displayed as apart of the script.
I use the Title page to note vital points about the script (eg: "Americanized US Letter Version") and version info, so I'd like to see it as part of the screenplay.

4. Have my notes on a scene appear as the description in the navigator. I'd rather see a title of 'Carrie confesses to the Murder' instead of 'INT. KITCHEN - DAY' .. for the 20th time.

5. WYSIWYG Copy to clipboard.
If you copy a slab of text into the clipboard, then paste into Word Document / Email etc ... all formatting is lost.

It's a pain when you are quoting a section in an email...

I'm sure I'll think of some more.

Mac.

By  Mac, at 7:24 AM  

I decided I should check I have the latest version. Using the 'Help >> Program Updates' menu, gave this message:

The most recent update to this software is 7.1.3
You are using version 7.1.2
Your software is up to date.
You do not need to download updates.
According to the 'readme.txt', the update (from 7.1.2 to 7.1.3) that I apparently don't need to download will give me this amazing new feature: "8) The program no longer crashes on startup when..."

Mac

By  Mac, at 7:37 AM  

Hi Everyone,

First off, thanks for posting your suggestions for us to review. As the Final Draft Product Manager, I'm very interested in hearing ideas from customers.

I read but don't typically post responses to every idea on every blog (otherwise I wouldn't get ANY work done) but I do respond to suggestions.

You can submit feedback to me directly at: http://www.finaldraft.com/company/feedback-form.php

By  Anonymous, at 2:23 PM  

Good to know this.

I'd wanted to try the program out but was just in time to miss out on v.6, as it turned out...

By  Anonymous, at 9:35 PM  

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